U.S. Marine Corps Investigating A Scandal Involving Leaked Nude Pics Of Female Service Members

Long Story Short

The U.S. Marine Corps is investigating the sharing of hundreds, maybe thousands, of naked photos of female active duty members and veterans online.

Long Story

Hundreds of Marines are being investigated after the discovery of a closed Facebook group that featured naked photos of female Marines, and the obscene comments that accompanied them.

The Marines United page had close to 30,000 followers until it was shut down last month. Open to male only service members and veterans, as well as Navy Corpsmen and Royal Marines, the page featured photos of female service members shared without their knowledge or consent. It also featured in some cases the personal information of the women, such as their names, rank, duty station and social media profiles.

The Facebook page linked to a Google Drive account and urged members to contribute photos. The photos appear to have been obtained in a variety of ways, from sharing with partners to surreptitiously photographing subjects to perhaps even hacking their social media accounts.

In one instance, a female corporal stationed to Camp Lejeune was followed and secretly photographed picking up her gear. Members suggested the uploader “take her out back and pound her out.” Someone else suggested, “And butthole. And throat. And ears. Both of them. Video it though… for science.”

The story was reported by non-profit reporting organizations The War Horse and The Center for Investigative Reporting. The War Horse, which reports on war trauma and veterans affairs, was founded last year by Thomas James Brennan, an Iraq and Afghanistan Marine veteran and Purple Heart recipient. There apparently have been threats made against Brennan and his family because of his reporting on the story.

The War Horse initially contacted the Marine Corps to discuss the Marines United Facebook page in late January. The service asked Facebook and Google to delete the accounts almost immediately but photos were still being added in mid-February. The Corps says it the Naval Criminal Investigative Service has launched an investigation and two people have already been dismissed: a Marine veteran who worked as a subcontractor who shared the Google Drive account, and the active duty Marine who photographed the corporal at Camp Lejeune.

Reaction from Marine officials has been unequivocal: sharing naked photos of service members “destroys morale, erodes trust and degrades the individual. The Marine Corps does not condone this sort of behavior, which undermines its core values,” according to a statement.

"[It] hurts fellow Marines, family members, and civilians. It is a direct attack on our ethos and legacy,” wrote Sgt. Maj. Ronald L. Green, the most senior enlisted Marine on active duty, in an e-mail to the War Horse. “It is inconsistent with our core values, and it impedes our ability to perform our mission.”

And in an interview with the Marine Corps Times newspaper, the service’s Commandant, General Robert Neller, said, “The success of every Marine, every team, every unit and command throughout our Corps is based on mutual trust and respect…. I expect every Marine to demonstrate the highest integrity and loyalty to fellow Marines at all times, on duty, off-duty and online.”

One female Marine captain wrote on the Corps’ Facebook page:

Hard to argue with her.

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Marine infantry units only began accepting their first female members on January 5.